Big News For Fort de Chartres

Les Amis du Fort de Chartres announces the 2020-2021 Fort de Chartres Capital Project Giving Campaign French Heritage Society Grant Award Celebrating the 300th Anniversary of Fort de Chartres 

Prairie du Rocher, IL — Les Amis du Fort de Chartres, “Friends of Fort de Chartres”, a not-forprofit support organization of Fort de Chartres State Historic Site, announces 300th Anniversary Capital Project Campaign grant news. Early in 2020, Les Amis du Fort de Chartres asked permission from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the site’s oversight agency, to begin a fundraising $100,000 capital project campaign in conjunction with the 300th anniversary of the building of the first wooden Fort de Chartres. We wanted to take the opportunity of this milestone anniversary to focus attention on the much-needed repairs at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site. We asked for permission to focus this capital project campaign for the repairs needed at the Fort’s Land Gate, the main entrance for visitors and a highly recognizable site feature. Les Amis du Fort de Chartres began our campaign and have made progress to our goal, a positive achievement considering the challenging economic environment related to the Covid19 pandemic. 

As part of our 300th Campaign fundraising efforts, we were invited to apply for a French Heritage Society project grant, an American non-profit organization created in 1982 that includes 10 chapters in the US and one in France. Through various activities and their educational program, FHS is dedicated to preservation, restoration and promotion of the beautiful French heritage throughout the United States and France. Les Amis du Fort de Chartres requested and was given IDNR approval to apply for the FHS project grant and we were recently notified that we were awarded a $6,000 matching-funds grant to begin phase 1 of our capital project campaign. Our Fort de Chartres grant award is one of sixteen projects being funded by the Society, with the Chicago and Louisiana FHS Chapters specifically funding our award. We can’t express our gratitude enough for their support of Fort de Chartres. In their just published publication titled “Au Courant-Summer 2020” of the French Heritage Society, they announced their 2020 grantees: https://a29.b41.myftpupload.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/07/FINALE-VERSION-AS-OF-0710-_-light-V.pdf or visit their website at https://frenchheritagesociety.org/projects/grants/

We are honored and proud to be included as one of their grant awardees (see page 16 of “Au Courant”).  Even more impressive, we are 1 of only 3 awards given to a site in the United Statessome pretty lofty company. The good news does not stop there! We were recently notified by the Society that they have received a matching grant award of an additional $6,000 from the William T. Kemper Foundation for our Fort de Chartres capital project, bringing the FHS grant award to $12,000. 

With this grant award and the additional $13,430 in campaign funds raised thus far, Les Amis currently has gathered donations and pledges for our campaign totaling $25,430. These donations include an outstanding $10,000 campaign pledge from the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Illinois and a $1000 donation from the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Missouri. Please visit the donate page of the fortdechartres.us website for a full list of campaign donors. With more good news soon to be announced, we are confidently moving ahead in planning Phase 1 of the Capital Project focused on the Land Gate, with approval of IDNR. Les Amis will continue to provide updates on the progress of our 2020-2021 Fort de Chartres Capital Project Giving Campaign.

Les Amis du Fort de Chartres, “Friends of Fort de Chartres,” is a not-for-profit organization made up of volunteers striving to preserve, protect, and interpret the physical structural and cultural heritage of Fort de Chartres in the 1700s. More information about Les Amis du Fort de Chartres can be found at http://www.fortdechartres.us/les-amis-du-fort-de-chartres/ and at https://www.facebook.com/LesAmisduFortdeChartres/.